Silvopasture, which comes from the Latin word "silva" meaning forest, is a method that combines trees, plants that animals eat (called forage), and the raising of domesticated animals in a way that helps all parts of the system. It uses the idea of carefully managing how animals graze, and it is one type of agroforestry, which is a farming practice that includes trees. When managed well, silvopasture can be considered a way to help reduce the effects of climate change.
When properly managed, silvopasture can improve the total amount of resources produced and the long-term income of farmers because it allows for the growth of tree crops, forage plants, and the raising of livestock at the same time. It also helps protect the environment and has been used in many places around the world for hundreds of years.
Benefits
Climate change adaptation has become more important in UNFCCC negotiations during the 2020s compared to earlier strategies, which focused more on reducing emissions. Silvopasture systems combine trees, crops, forage, and livestock in a sustainable way. These systems are highly adaptable and also help reduce emissions. In contrast, open pasture systems often result from deforestation and can worsen problems like reduced water availability and poor soil health. These issues harm ecosystems, local climates, and communities, and are made worse by climate change.
Silvopasture systems affect local climate conditions, offering benefits over open pastures. They act as a middle ground between forests and open pastures in adapting to climate change. By keeping some tree cover, silvopastures create a more stable environment that reduces extreme temperatures and improves soil conditions. This helps livestock stay healthier, with better access to food and water, improved reproduction, milk production, and longer lifespans.
Trees in silvopastures provide shade, reducing the intensity of light that plants use for growth compared to open pastures, while still allowing more light than dense forests. This balance supports plant diversity and better forage quality. Studies show that air temperatures near the soil in silvopastures are up to 7% cooler than in open pastures. Soil temperatures at depths of 5–10 cm are also lower in silvopastures.
Silvopastures help manage soil moisture by reducing evaporation through shading and wind protection. During winter and spring, soil moisture in silvopastures is slightly lower than in forests but higher than in open pastures. In summer, silvopastures balance moisture levels, preventing excessive drying seen in open pastures.
These climate benefits—cooler temperatures, balanced light, and better soil moisture—make silvopastures more resilient to extreme weather like heatwaves and droughts. This improves the stability of agricultural systems.
Grazing in silvopastures helps control plant growth and reduces fire risks by lowering fuel buildup. This protects biodiversity and prevents carbon loss from fires, which is especially important in fire-prone areas like Southern Europe.
Studies in the U.S. show that cows in silvopastures handle heat better, spend more time grazing, and rest less compared to cows in traditional pastures. This helps livestock adapt to climate changes.
Silvopastures also improve water quality and support wildlife habitats. They give farmers income from timber, forage, and livestock, helping them cope with market changes and climate effects. This makes silvopastures attractive to small or resource-limited farmers.
Silvopastures store more carbon than forests or open pastures with similar tree density. Their lower use of machinery reduces emissions, making them more sustainable than traditional farming. Open pastures emit more greenhouse gases because of exposed soil and less climate protection.
Studies show that open pastures absorb the least carbon, silvopastures absorb some, and forests absorb the most. Open pastures have higher carbon emissions due to factors like warmer temperatures and soil respiration. Removing trees in open pastures increases these emissions by reducing water loss from plants and increasing soil moisture.
Silvopastures retain more soil carbon than open pastures. While converting forests to pastures temporarily increases soil carbon, this benefit fades over time due to higher temperatures and faster decay. After a few years, soil carbon in open pastures matches that of forests. Silvopastures, with their mix of trees and grasses, may help keep soil carbon stable over time, though changes take decades.
Converting forests to open pastures raises soil nitrogen levels and lowers the carbon-to-nitrogen balance. Silvopastures maintain a better balance, reducing emissions of nitrous oxide, a strong greenhouse gas. Overall, silvopastures help reduce emissions and store more carbon, making them effective for climate resilience.
Silvopastures support biodiversity by creating habitats for plants and animals. They preserve native plants, help wildlife, and maintain traditional farming knowledge. These systems attract pollinators and beneficial insects, improving crop growth and ecosystem health. Choosing diverse tree and forage species is key to supporting biodiversity above and below ground.
Using native tree species in silvopastures boosts economic benefits and biodiversity. Trees improve soil health, provide timber, control erosion, and support livestock. When selecting trees, it’s important to choose species that work well with grazing. Fast-growing trees like black locust, willow, and mulberry are good choices. Native trees also attract insects and birds, enhancing biodiversity. Livestock can eat unharvested fruits, helping control pests.
Silvopastures produce better forage during droughts because of their stable climate. Forage species are chosen based on soil, climate, and grazing needs. Shade-tolerant grasses like bahiagrass, bermudagrass, tall fescue, orchardgrass, and ryegrass, along with legumes like subterranean clover and Sericea lespedeza, are commonly used. These plants ensure productivity, good nutrition for livestock, and a healthy ecosystem.
Implementation challenges
Silvopasture can help reduce the effects of climate change, adapt to environmental changes, and support farming in a sustainable way. However, it needs careful planning, money, and special knowledge. A study published in 2021, titled "Thinning forests or planting fields? Producer preferences for establishing silvopasture," looked at what farmers in Virginia (US) thought about starting silvopasture. The survey found that only 8% wanted to plant trees (48% were not interested at all), while about 25% were very interested in thinning woodlands to create silvopastures. About half (48%) of the farmers said they could not plant trees because they did not have enough pasture land, while 27% thought thinning woodlands could help them grow more pasture. Common problems that stop farmers from using silvopasture include rules and laws that are hard to follow, unclear land ownership, lack of knowledge, limited money, and changes in traditions.
A major reason silvopasture is not used more often is that many farmers do not know about alternative farming methods that mix trees and livestock. Farmers need to learn how trees and animals affect each other, how to move animals to different areas, and how to keep soil healthy to use silvopasture successfully. Animals might walk on or eat young trees, so farmers need to use fences or control how animals graze. Trees and grasses might compete for sunlight, water, and nutrients, which could lower the amount of food for animals if not managed properly. Choosing the wrong type of tree could slow growth, provide poor shade, or harm animals. In dry areas, trees and plant material could increase the risk of fires, which might cause problems if not handled carefully with firebreaks or proper tree choices.
To help farmers use silvopasture, good teaching programs and support from experts are needed. Training, farms that show how silvopasture works, and sharing knowledge between farmers can help them use silvopasture safely and effectively.
Starting silvopasture needs a lot of money at the beginning for planting trees, building fences, and setting up systems to move animals around. Silvopasture can be created in two main ways: by adding trees to existing pastures or by changing woodlands into pastures. Planting trees in pastures requires protecting young trees from animals, waiting years for results, and possibly limiting future use of the land. Changing woodlands into silvopastures involves cutting down some trees to let more sunlight reach the ground, which is hard work and might need heavy machines. After cutting trees, farmers must manage the fallen wood and control weeds and new plants that might grow, which adds more work. Unlike regular farms that make money every year, both methods take time to become profitable. Studies show that silvopasture and other tree-based farming systems usually take 3–6 years to start making money, which delays when farmers see a return on their investment. Silvopasture also needs more labor and special knowledge than traditional farming, which increases costs for training and setup.
While changes in prices affect all farming, silvopasture can help farmers stay steady by making money from trees, animals, and plants. However, it is not clear if silvopasture always makes more money than farms that grow only one type of crop.
Even though silvopasture has benefits, rules and laws at the international and national levels can make it hard to use. Agreements like Agenda 21, a plan from the United Nations in 1992, recognize silvopasture’s role in managing land sustainably. However, these agreements are not required for countries to follow. As a result, many governments do not offer enough support or incentives for silvopasture, often focusing on traditional farming instead. A 2024 study found that farmers in California mostly paid for silvopasture themselves, using limited help from other sources. The lack of clear ways to get money limited how much they could expand their systems.
Some rules actually stop farmers from growing trees on their land. Also, laws about land use might say silvopasture is for farming or forestry, which could stop farmers from getting help with money or land use benefits.
In some areas, rules about who owns the land are unclear or too strict. This uncertainty makes farmers hesitant to use silvopasture, as the systems need long-term care and planning.
History
According to the wood-pasture hypothesis, open woodlands that were grazed by animals were part of Europe’s natural forests even before humans began using them. Fruit trees, nut trees, and silvopasture systems—areas where trees and grazing animals coexist—covered large parts of central Europe until the 20th century and are still common in some regions today. Wood pasture, one of the earliest ways humans used land, is a historical European system in which open woodlands provided shelter and food for animals like sheep and cattle. These woodlands also supplied resources such as timber for building and fuel, cut branches for making wattle and charcoal, and trimmed tree branches for other uses. Since Roman times, pigs have been allowed to roam in beech and oak woodlands to eat acorns and beech nuts, and in fruit orchards to consume fallen fruit.
United Kingdom
The Silvopastoral National Network Experiment studies different tree species and planting densities across various locations. According to Natural England's Environmental Stewardship program, Wood Pasture is described in the Farm Environmental Plan as a landscape featuring open-grown or high-forest trees within a mix of grazed grassland, heathland, and/or woodland areas.
Studies show that sheep use trees for protection from wind, which may improve their welfare. However, sheep spending time near trees can cause soil compaction, especially when trees are planted at very low densities. Some botanists suggest planting at least 400 trees per hectare to ensure healthy growth.
Signs of historical wood-pasture management are visible in many ancient woodlands in Scotland, such as Rassal ashwood in Ross-shire and Glen Finglas in the Trossachs. Dalkeith Old Wood, owned by the Duke of Buccleuch, includes cattle grazing under ancient oaks and is designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI).
Epping Forest is one of the main remaining examples of wood pasture in England. Historically, cattle grazing was combined with pollarding trees for fuel, used for both local needs and sale. This practice continued in Loughton until it was banned in 1879. A public hall built with funds from ending the practice is named Lopping Hall. Today, controlled cattle grazing and limited pollarding are still managed by conservators.
United States
Silvopastures are the most effective and widely used agroforestry method in the United States. In the southeastern U.S., projects restoring longleaf pine and wiregrass have tested how raising cattle among trees affects both money and nature. Longleaf pine, which is resistant to fire, originally grew in low numbers so that plants growing under the trees could be eaten by animals. People from Spain used this area as silvopastures starting in the 1500s, and this practice continued until the early 1900s, along with cutting trees for wood. By the 1920s, most of the longleaf pine that once covered about 92 million acres (37 million hectares) between Texas and Virginia had been cut down by European settlers. Removing the trees and losing the ecosystem they supported caused serious soil erosion and replaced forests with large tree farms and open farmland. Interest in silvopastures has grown again in areas where longleaf pine forests remain and in land restoration efforts. Evidence shows that having income from both timber and cattle is financially helpful, and it also helps restore wildlife. Legal protection for some species, such as the red-cockaded woodpecker, that live in this habitat may allow landowners to earn extra money through financial compensation.